


A birthday is just another day

by Xyliandra



Category: Free!
Genre: Fluff and Angst, Happy Birthday Rei!, M/M, OT5, Polyamorous Character, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-15
Updated: 2014-12-15
Packaged: 2018-03-01 14:44:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2776913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xyliandra/pseuds/Xyliandra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“It really isn’t necessary to make any plans,” Rei interjected.<br/>“Of course it’s necessary! It’s your birthday Rei-chan! We gotta celebrate!”<br/>“No, we really do not,” Rei replied firmly. Makoto inspected Rei with a worried frown.<br/>“It’s your birthday,” Nagisa repeated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A birthday is just another day

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be short and fluffy. I don't know what happened.  
> No beta, because it's ridiculously late and this should have been up hours ago.

“Rei-chan, gimme your phone,” Nagisa declared as he plopped down next to Rei and holding his hand out expectantly. Rei took his phone out of his pocket, but paused before handing it to Nagisa.

“Why?” he asked cautiously, inspecting Nagisa as if trying to decode his request.

“Because I wanna call RinRin.”

“Use your own phone,” said Haru levelly.

“He isn’t answering my calls,” Nagisa whined. “I bet he’ll answer Rei’s though.”

“You can’t just call him in the middle of the school day!” Rei protested as Nagisa swiped his phone out of his hands.

“Rin has a free period right now,” Makoto pointed out, carefully distributing the four bento boxes from his bag.

“I can’t believe you don’t have your boyfriend’s schedule memorized,” Nagisa teased, causing Rei to blush. Rei made a halfhearted attempt to take his phone back, but Nagisa had already placed the call. “It’s ringing~” he sang happily.

“Rei? Is everything okay?” Rin’s words were rushed and tinny over the cell phone.

“Hi RinRin~” Nagisa chirped.

“Dammit Nagisa, why do you have Rei’s phone?”

“Cuz I took it from him,” Nagisa explained with a grin, putting the phone on speaker and placing it in the center of the group. “You weren’t answering my calls.”

“Ever think maybe there was a reason for that?” Rin countered. “And why the hell am I on speaker, aren’t you guys at lunch?”

“Nagisa convinced the student council president to let us eat in their club room,” Makoto explained.

“How the hell did you manage that?”

“I mostly just told him that we had super important club business to attend to.”

“Mostly,” Haru repeated with a raised eyebrow.

“That part’s not important Haru-chan,” Nagisa replied with a wink.

“And what is the important part exactly?” Rei asked with slight annoyance.

“We need to nail down our plans for next week!”

“Ah,” Haru stated in understanding. “We can do it at my house.”

“Well, duh, Haru-chan! But, like, _what_ are we doing? It’s a weekday, so that limits our options.”

“I am so confused,” Kou mumbled.

“Wait,” Rin said loudly to be heard over everyone. “Are we talking about Rei’s birthday?”

“Ding ding ding!” Nagisa exclaimed cheerfully. “December 14th is next week, so we gotta figure this, like, yesterday. I was originally thinking maybe a surprise party, but we all know how Rei-chan handles surprises…” Haru smirked and Makoto tactfully chuckled into his hand.

“It really isn’t necessary to make any plans,” Rei interjected.

“Of course it’s necessary! It’s your _birthday_ Rei-chan! We gotta celebrate!”

“No, we really do not,” Rei replied firmly. Makoto inspected Rei with a worried frown.

“It’s your _birthday_ ,” Nagisa repeated.

“He did this last year too,” Rin recalled. “He really didn’t want me to come see him for his birthday.”

“Not that you had the opportunity to do so anyway,” Rei muttered under his breath. Makoto’s brow furrowed with concern.

“Is everything okay Rei?” Makoto asked gently. The other three turned to regard Rei as well; Rin went quiet over the phone.

 “It’s just that I-" Rei sighed, adjusting his glasses. “I rather dislike birthdays.”

“Bullshit,” Nagisa accused with a devilish grin, “You sure seemed to enjoy yourself at _my_ birthday party.” Rei flushed and looked down at his lap.

“I-”

“Of course he enjoyed your birthday, Nagisa,” Rin smirked.

“Rin, don’t-” Makoto started, eyes wide with horror.

“Who wouldn’t enjoy an all-night fuck fest?” Rin finished cockily.

“Oh my _god_ ,” Kou wailed.

“Was that Kou?!” Rin panicked over the phone.

“Yup,” Haru stated with a smirk.

“Oh my god,” Rin wailed.

“I know y’all are dating and shit, but I really don’t need the specifics,” Kou grumbled, rubbing her hands over her eyes in exasperation.

“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME MY SISTER WAS THERE?”

“Makoto tried to warn you,” Haru pointed out.

“I said it was CLUB business,” Nagisa said indignantly, “And Gou is part of the CLUB.”

“So about that birthday party!” Makoto jumped in with nervous laughter.

“WHY DOES MY SISTER KNOW WE’RE DATING?” Rin shouted over the phone, suddenly processing his sister’s words.

“You really think Nagisa can keep a secret?” Kou asked with a laugh. “Not to mention the countless times my relay team showed up to practice with matching hickeys.”

“THAT WAS NAGISA’S IDEA I SWEAR-“

“Again, reeeeeeally don’t want specifics bro.” Rin let out what sounded like a strangled moan.

“Gou-chan, if you kill our boyfriend, I’ll be pissed,” Nagisa pouted. Kou rolled her eyes.

“Whatever. Rin, you and your boyfriends have my blessing.” She rose from her seat, carefully repacking her lunch. “You guys figure out what you’re doing for Rei’s birthday party, I’m going to eat with Chigusa. But if ‘birthday party’ is code for some kinky five-way ‘fuck fest’, I’d rather not know the details.” She left with a wave as Rin continued to splutter into the phone.

“That could have gone better,” Haru remarked as the door closed.

“NAGISA I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!” Rin screamed through the phone, his threat being met with giggles.

“Yeah right,” Nagisa laughed, “You love me too much to do that.”

Rei silently ate his lunch while Rin and Nagisa continued to bicker.

“Rei,” Makoto began softly, pulling Rei from his thoughts. “Are you okay?” Rei blinked his eyes back into focus.

“Hmm? Oh, um, I suppose so,” he answered distractedly.

“You don’t want to do anything for your birthday,” Haru stated, studying his features.

“Not particularly, no,” Rei admitted, blushing under the scrutiny and turning away.

“Why not Rei-chan?” Nagisa asked sincerely, recognizing he needed to be serious now. “I thought you liked planning for Makoto’s birthday party. If you didn’t, you should have said something. Rei-chan shouldn’t do anything he doesn’t want to.”

“Nagisa-kun, that is an unreasonable statement,” Rei argued. “All humans must do things they do not particularly enjoy. It is a simple fact.”

“Rei,” Haru said plainly. Rei sighed.

“I do not mind celebrating others’ birthdays,” Rei began, fidgeting with the cuff of his jacket. “And I was quite surprised to discover that I actually do enjoy the planning aspect quite a bit.”

“But?” Rin prompted. Nagisa grabbed the phone and scooted it closer to Rei so Rin could hear better; Nagisa had a feeling this next part was important.

“But I do not wish to celebrate my birthday.”

“Why not Rei?” Makoto asked gently.

“In my experience, birthdays have always been a disappointment. Therefore, I would rather spend December 14th as if it were any other day.” Both Nagisa and Makoto regarding Rei sadly. Rei sighed, feeling their silent pleas for him to continue. “I didn’t have any friends before I joined the swim team,” Rei clarified. “When I was younger, my parents invited my classmates and the children of their colleagues to attend my birthday parties, but it was quite clear those who did attend had no desire to do so. Fortunately, I was able to convince my parents that I felt parties were juvenile and it ceased to be an issue.”

“How old were you when that happened?” Nagisa asked softly, sliding next to Rei and resting his cheek on the younger boy’s shoulder.

“Ten years old.”

“Oh Rei,” Makoto murmured. Rei shrugged.

“I was actually relieved when they stopped arranging the parties. They implied on several occasions that they anticipated I would invite people over on my own, but there was no one to invite.”

“Rei-chan, that’s terrible,” Nagisa whispered, nuzzling into Rei’s side.

“That’s just how things are, Nagisa-kun. A birthday is just another day. There is nothing significant or special about it,” Rei stated simply, petting Nagisa’s hair. “I am glad that has not been the case for you, but all my evidence shows that birthdays cannot live up to the expectations placed upon them. So it is simpler to ignore birthdays entirely.”

Haru met Rei’s gaze; Rei could read in his eyes that he had similar experiences.

“We don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to,” Haru began, “But things are different now Rei.”

“You have people who care about you,” Makoto continued.

“Which is precisely why I would rather not celebrate,” Rei said tersely. “It wasn’t uncommon for my parents to be unavailable for my birthday. It was far more upsetting when they weren’t able to celebrate with me as expected.”

“We wouldn’t miss your birthday for anything, Rei-chan!” Nagisa declared, squeezing Rei’s arm tight.

“I appreciate the sentiment Nagisa-kun, but you cannot say that with certainty.”

“Of course I can Rei-chan! None of us knew your birthday last year or we totally would have celebrated it, but this year-“

“I did,” Rin said sadly.

“Rin-chan?”

“I knew his birthday,” Rin said with a sigh. Rei imagined he was running a hand through his hair. “I didn’t tell you guys because I planned on taking him out to dinner then for a walk through the park.”

“That sounds it was really romantic Rin-chan! The park is always so pretty this time of year with all of the lights up and everything. We should make it a tradition and go again this year! There’s this one cart that sells special hot chocolate and-”

“Planned,” Haru said simply.

“Yeah,” Rin sighed. “Planned.”

“Rin-san was unable to make it,” Rei stated with forced casualness.

“I wanted to babe, you know I did. There was no way I could make it with the trains shut down,” Rin defended, voice laced with regret.

“The snow storm,” Haru recalled. Rei hummed by way of confirmation.

“You could not have anticipated the adverse weather conditions, nor could you have foreseen train service being halted for safety concerns,” Rei agreed. “Unfortunately, that does not change the fact that my expectations were that you would celebrate my birthday with me, and when you could not, I was disappointed that I had, against my better judgment, allowed myself to get my hopes up.”

“Rei, baby…” Rin murmured guiltily. “I am so, so sorry.”

“You were already forgiven Rin-san; I am merely explaining the circumstances.”

“I’m sorry your birthdays have sucked in the past Rei-chan,” Nagisa began, peering up at his boyfriend. “But this year is gonna be totally different. You only had one boyfriend last year, and he probably did he best to be there for you.”

“I did!” Rin protested.

“But you’ve got 300% more boyfriends now,” Nagisa continued as if he weren't interrupted, “So the odds are at least 300% greater chance that you’ll have a boyfriend by your side this birthday!”

“By that logic, there’s a 300% greater chance that a boyfriend will mess it up again this year,” Rin argued, the hurt evidenced in his voice.

“I’ve totally been paying attention in math class, and I don’t think that’s how probability works?” Nagisa replied uncertainly. “And I didn’t mean to make you feel bad. I’m sorry RinRin. I promise I love you lots, okay?”

Rin was silent for a few moments before replying with a soft, “I love you too.”

“We won’t do anything for Rei’s birthday,” Haru decided. Both Rin and Nagisa started to protest. “Our boyfriend told us he doesn’t want to celebrate. It would be rude to ignore his wishes.” Neither could think of an argument against this.

“Thank you Haruka-sempai,” Rei said with a smile.

“Drop the –senpai,” Haru stated, “We’ve already fucked.” His four boyfriends called out his name with varying degrees of mortification and glee.

 

 

Rei woke up just before his alarm went off. He always did. His body had long since grown accustomed to his carefully constructed routine. Having an alarm set as backup was reassuring though. Especially since certain boyfriends were less likely to respect his routine, which resulted in him getting less than his optimal hours of sleep each night.

As usual, he lay in bed and focused on his breathing until his alarm buzzed. He grabbed his phone and turned off his alarm, pretending he didn’t notice the date as he did so. It was just another day, he told himself as he began his morning routine. He showered, then dressed, brushed his teeth, and dried and styled his hair. He checked that he had not forgotten to pack any of his study materials or practice pages the night before (he hadn’t) and headed downstairs.

He wasn’t surprised to find a note from his mother on the table (he had heard her leave at some point earlier that morning). There had been an emergency at the hospital; she would try to be home for dinner. His father’s plane had been rerouted for a medical emergency; there was no word yet on when his plane would depart again.

It was just another day, so none of this bothered him.

Rei stared at the note for a few long moments before placing it back on the table. He glanced at his watch.

Rei elected to deviate from his routine. Instead of preparing a balanced breakfast, Rei slipped on his coat, slung his book bag over his shoulder, and left the house.

 

Nagisa grinned widely as he spotted Rei at the train station. “Rei-chan! Rei-chan!” He chanted as he skipped towards his boyfriend, faltering slightly when he noticed Rei was carrying a paper bag. “Ohmygod Rei is that what I think it is?” he asked excitedly, moving faster towards Rei.

“It is a good thing you weren’t late today,” Rei began, carefully opening the bag.

“I’m never late; Rei-chan is just freakishly early.” Rei took out a cardboard box and handing it to Nagisa.

“If you had arrived much later, these would have been cold,” Rei took out a second box, “which would have defeated the purpose of arriving at the bakery as soon as they opened.”

Nagisa’s eyes lit up as he opened his box to reveal a large cinnamon roll. “Rei! You _never_ get cinnamon rolls! Especially not for breakfast!” Nagisa opened his mouth as if to add something, but closed it. He carefully scooped up his pastry instead. “Itadakimasu~” he recited before taking a large bite. “Thanks Rei-chan.”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Rei chided. “I had considered purchasing rolls for Haru-senpai and Makoto-senpai, but I did not think they would survive the train ride.” Rei took a much smaller bite of his cinnamon roll.

“Probably not,” Nagisa agreed, swallowing his first bite. “Any special reason for cinnamon rolls for breakfast?” Rei shrugged, chewing his food thoroughly. Nagisa hummed and took another large bite.

“I forgot how sweet these are,” Rei remarked with a slight grimace.

“Don’t worry Rei-chan! I’ll eat whatever you can’t!”

“My hero,” Rei remarked with an eye roll.

“You know it Rei-chan!” Nagisa replied with a wink. Rei took another bite.

“I should have purchased a drink.”

“Ooo! I actually have a water bottle in my bag! I was gonna eat a strawberry protein bar for breakfast, and you KNOW how dry those can be.” Rei actually didn’t. He refused to eat them. “But this is way, way better. You can totally have my water! Here, gimme your bun, it’s in the front pocket.” Rei did as Nagisa instructed while the shorter boy went off on a tangent, feeling at ease for the first time that morning.

 

It was Haru’s week to prepare lunches. Early into their relationship, the group had discovered that everyone enjoyed preparing food as a way of showing their affection. It was decided that they would each take turns preparing lunches for each other, though Nagisa’s penchant for protein powder quickly removed him from the schedule. Rin’s attendance at Samezuka precluded him from participating in lunch rotations, but the five of them routinely prepared dinners together following joint practices. Last week Makoto had brought lunch, and the week before it had been Rei’s turn, so today it was Haru’s turn to make lunch for them.

Haru did not make lunch for them.

Kou excitedly placed bento boxes in front of each of the boys. Rei and Makoto eyed their meals warily; neither had forgotten her last attempt at feeding the team. Nagisa’s eyes sparkled.

“Don’t get too excited Nagisa, Rin made it,” Haru stated. Kou puffed out her cheeks.

“Haruka-senpai! You ruined the surprise!” she pouted.

“Rin-san made this?” Rei asked in disbelief, staring at the lunch box before him.

“Yup! I happened to be at Samezuka last night-”

“Happened to be my ass,” Nagisa smirked.

“And I ran into Rin. He said he was sick of dorm food and cooked a homemade meal for us, but he’s used to cooking for all of you and made way too much. So I brought it back with me!”

“That was very thoughtful of you Kou,” said Makoto. She smiled and waved off the compliment.

“It was all Rin’s idea. I’m just the delivery girl.”

“Waaaaiiii~” Nagisa squealed in delight. “Rei-chan! Look! It’s your favorite!” Rei opened his lunch box as smiled as well.

“It looks delicious. Thank you very much Kou-chan,” Rei said warmly.

“You’re welcome,” she replied shyly, blushing faintly.

“Itadakimasu,” Haru stated evenly, Nagisa echoing him enthusiastically.

“Itadakimasu,” Rei repeated, picking up his chopsticks and eagerly taking a bite.

 

Makoto kissed Rei after lunch. Circumstances what they were, the group had an unspoken understanding about concealing their relationship at school. Nagisa had always been inappropriately affectionate, so he was able to hug and cuddle and, to some extent, kiss his boyfriends without drawing much attention.

But Makoto was acutely concerned with appearances at school. Because Rei was acutely concerned with appearances at school.

After Makoto kissed him, Rei blushed brightly and he frantically looked around to make sure none of their peers had seen. He sighed in relief as he saw Haru, Kou, and Nagisa standing watch. Nagisa winked and gave him a thumbs up. He turned back to Makoto.

“Rei?” he asked gently. Rei nodded. Makoto carefully pulled his boyfriend into his arms and kissed him tenderly.

Mid-kiss, Rei found himself half-doubting the merits of a routine. He could certainly learn to be okay with surprises like this.

 

When the final bell rang for the day, Rei carefully collected his belongings and arranged them on his desk. Satisfied with his work, he stood to retrieve his backpack.

“Here,” Haru stated, holding out the bag.

“Ah, thank you Haruka-senpai,” Rei said, ignoring the half-glare Haru shot him for using ‘-senpai’.

“What are you doing this evening?” he asked, watching Rei pack his school supplies away with practiced ease.

“Nagisa-kun and I have a history exam the day after tomorrow, so I will start reviewing the material for that. I have already completed tonight’s math assignment, but it would be wise to go over my work to check for errors. Then there’s-”

“Reiiiiii-chan,” Nagisa whined. “He’s not talking about homework.”

“Would you like to come over?” Haru asked. “Makoto and I were thinking about watching a movie.”

“I…” Rei trailed off, staring at the unpacked textbooks before him.

“Rei,” Nagisa began gently, “You and I both know you worked ahead last night while I struggled with those damn proofs, and you finished the quiz way before anyone else in class so you totally had time to get tonight’s stuff done too.” Rei nodded absent mindedly. Nagisa wasn’t wrong, but…

“You don’t have to stay any longer than you’re comfortable Rei,” Haru said.

“None of us care if you have a fuddy-duddy bed time Rei-chan,” Nagisa agreed. “We’ll leave when you say, ‘kay?”

“We?” Rei repeated with a small smile.

“Of course! I can’t let our Rei-chan ride the train alone—who knows what kind of perverts might be on the 8pm train!” Nagisa teased, earning him a playful shove from Rei. “REI! You almost knocked me off the desk!”

“Don’t sit on the desk then,” Rei quipped, carefully putting his textbooks in his desk instead of his bag. Haru smiled. Nagisa whooped.

 

Rei was stunned when Rin walked through the door.

“Rin-san,” Rei gasped breathlessly, standing up from his seat. The redhead grinned and opened his arms wide.

“Hey babe, miss me?” Rei nodded crossing the few feet to slide his arms around Rin’s waist, burying his face in Rin’s neck.

“Thank you for lunch,” he breathed. “It was amazing.” Rin wrapped his arms around Rei with a small laugh.

“I’m glad you enjoyed it babe.” He kissed Rei’s head. “After last year, there was no way in hell I was going to miss your birthday again.”

Rei stiffened slightly.

Haru sighed.

Nagisa cursed under his breath.

“We agreed not to say it,” Makoto hissed.

That’s right. It was Rei’s birthday. He had forgotten. Or rather, he had convinced himself he had forgotten; it was easier than admitting the fear that his boyfriends had forgotten. No one had said anything all day.

“You remembered,” Rei stated evenly, pulling back from Rin to study his boyfriends.

“Of course I did babe,” Rin reassured. “We all did.”

“But you had said you didn’t want us to celebrate your birthday, so we didn’t know if we should say anything,” Makoto added.

“’It’s simpler to ignore birthdays’,” Haru parroted.

Rei had forgotten he had said that.

He clutched Rin’s arms, eyes blurring. His boyfriends hadn’t forgotten. They were just following his wishes. His stupid, stupid wishes that made him think that his boyfriends had forgotten.

“Baby, baby, baby,” Rin chanted soothingly, brushing his thumb under Rei’s eye, “Please don’t cry.” Nagisa jumped out of his seat and hugged Rei fiercely from behind.

“Reeeeeiiiiiiii,” Nagisa lightly head butted Rei between his shoulder blades, rubbing his head against that spot, “I knew this was a bad idea. I knew you were over-thinking things again and making things a bajillion times more complicated than they needed to be.”

“I’m sorry,” Rei sniffled mournfully. “I’m so, so sorry.” His shoulders shook as silent sobs bubbled up inside of him.

“Oh Rei,” Makoto said softly, wrapping his arms around the group as well. Haru slipped out of the room unnoticed as Rei starting babbling apologies through his tears. When he returned, Haru stood next to Rei and rubbed his arm comfortingly, a box of tissues is hand.

When Rei calmed down, he excused himself to clean up in the bathroom.

How could he have been so stupid? He wondered, carefully splashing water on his face, washing away the dried tear streaks. Before he could wallow in too much self pity, there was a knock on the door.

“Rei?” Makoto called through the barrier.

“Yes Makoto-senpai?” Rei replied.

“Nagisa is talking about going out for dinner in honor of your birthday. He wants to call ahead and make reservations.” Rei studied himself in the mirror. He supposed it wasn’t _too_ obvious that he had been crying. “I can tell him no-”

“No,” Rei interrupted. He took a deep breath. “We can go out.”

“O-oh. Are you sure?” Makoto asked uncertainly.

Rei nodded, then shook his head at himself when he realized his boyfriend couldn’t see him nod through the door. He took a deep breath and opened the door.

“Yes. Let’s go out.”

“To celebrate your birthday?” Rin asked from just down the hall.

“To celebrate my birthday,” Rei agreed, standing up a bit straighter.

“Hooray!” Nagisa cried happily, launching himself at Rin. The taller boy let out a quiet _oof_ at the unexpected weight.

“We should get going then,” Haru instructed, slipping on his coat. “Our reservation is in 20 minutes, and we still have to walk.” His boyfriends all gawked at him.

“You knew this would happen,” Rin accused in awe. Haru shrugged.

“You can walk and talk at the same time,” Nagisa reminded them authoritatively. “I wanna see where Haru’s taking us to eat!”

“Who said I’m paying for you?” Haru asked coolly, sliding his shoes on.

“Haru-chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan~!”

 

“I told you this was romantic,” Nagisa sighed happily, carefully cradling the cup in his hand.

“So glad I thought of it last year then,” Rin smirked, ruffling Nagisa’s hair.

“The hot chocolate was totally my idea though,” Nagisa countered, ducking out from under Rin, blowing on his beverage.

“Says you!” Rin launches at Nagisa, trying to grab the cup from his hand.

Rei chuckled softly as the two chased each other around the clearing, their argument devolving into laughter and shoves.

“Would you like a hot chocolate Rei?” Makoto asked, holding a cup before him. Rei nodded, carefully taking the drink from him.

“Thank you Makoto-senpai,” he replied breathing in the smell of the chocolate, enjoying the warmth that seeped through his hands.

“Drop then –senpai,” Haru said, handing Makoto another cup. Makoto smiled and took the cup graciously.

“And thank you Haruka-sen-” Rei trailed off under Haru’s stare. “Haruka-san,” he amended. “I appreciate everything you have all done today. I am sorry I was so foolish earlier. I cannot believe-”

“Hey, don’t worry about it so much babe,” Rin said with a smile. “Live and learn, right?”

“If this is Officially your birthday celebration, does that mean it’s okay to give you your gift now?” Nagisa asked gleefully. Rei blinked in disbelief.

“You- you got me a gift?” he asked shakily. “Even after I…?”

“ _We_ all got you a gift,” Nagisa corrected. “And we kinda got it way before last week, but after the whole phone convo thingie, we kinda agreed to just give it to you at Christmas.”

“You seriously brought it?” Rin asked Nagisa, shaking his head. “And you had the nerve to get mad at me earlier-”

“I was scared Rei was gonna freak out, okay?” Nagisa confessed passionately, feeling slightly embarrassed when Rei’s fell on him. “I know you said you didn’t want us to recognize your birthday, and obviously now we know that’s not what you wanted at all, but I was worried that because we weren’t recognizing your birthday you would think we forgot about you and didn’t love you, and I was scared you were going to have a panic attack and I’m not very good at talking you down from those like Rin and Mako and Haru,”  Nagisa paused long enough to take a breath before continuing, “So I’ve been carrying your present around with me all day because I figured that if I couldn’t convince you that we all love you at least the card and gift would.” Nagisa unhooked his jacket to reach into the interior pocket. He pulled out a slightly less than pristine wrapped box and card. “Sorry I got it all wrinkly and broken and un-beautiful,” he apologized guiltily.

Rei shook his head, carefully taking the items from Nagisa. “They’re perfect,” Rei assured. And he meant it. His boyfriends had taught him that Beautiful meant many different things. That imperfect things were as Beautiful as perfect ones.

Rei carefully opened the envelope, smiling at the butterfly on the front of the card, and crying at the Beautiful things written inside. There were moments Rei could hardly believe he had these four passionate, understanding, Beautiful men were boyfriends. This was one of those moments. Rei accepted the handkerchief Makoto offered him and wiped his eyes then nose. Rei knew without a doubt he was an ugly crier; he vowed to keep it together when he opened the gift.

Rei broke that vow instantly.

He started crying the moment he saw the ring in the box.

“Wait baby, you can’t lose it just yet,” Rin teased gently, rubbing Rei’s back. “You don’t even know the story behind it.”

“Haru-chan designed it,” Nagisa declared proudly. Rei looked up from the ring to stare at Haru.

“You guys helped,” Haru mumbled, looking to the side and blushing slightly.

“Nagisa though we should give you a bracelet to fidget with when you’re anxious,” Makoto explained.

“But we weren’t sure if you’d want to wear a bracelet,” Rin added.

“Haru mentioned that there are spinner rings that, well, spin, so the wearer can fidget with those and get their kinesthetic stimulation, or whatever,” Nagisa said, rocking on his heels.

“Rin picked the text,” Haru finished.

Rei looked back to the ring, carefully removing it to examine it more closely.

“ _I will be okay_ ,” Rei read the careful English script, tears falling faster down his cheeks.

“Just like we tell you during you panic attacks,” Rin reminded him gently, kissing his temple. “ _You will be okay_.”

“Does this mean you like it Rei-chan?” Nagisa asked with content smile. Rei nodded, unable to speak as he choked back sobs

Haru and Makoto deftly removed the cups of hot chocolate before Rin and Nagisa pulled Rei into a tight hug. Once all burn hazards were a safe distance away, they joined in the hug, all of them holding Rei as years of pent up disappointment dissipated through his tears.

“Every crappy birthday,” Rei sobbed suddenly, confusing his boyfriends. “This makes up for every one.” Rei felt kissed being planted all along his face and neck and head; he lost track of who was kissing where.

“You should put the ring on,” Haru suggested.

“We can’t have you losing that,” Makoto teased lightly. Rei laughed weepily.

“I put it on ages ago,” he explained with a smile. “I’ve been spinning it this whole time.”

“And?” Nagisa asked eagerly.

“And I have the most amazing boyfriends in the world,” Rei breathed reverently.

**Author's Note:**

> I really don't like celebrating my birthday for a number of reasons, so naturally I passed this cheerful quirk along to my favorite character.  
> I'm sorry Rei.  
> At least it all worked out in the end, right?  
> Find me on [tumbr](http://xyliandra.tumblr.com/) so we can freak out over Free! together. Or you can follow my [my fiction tumblr](http://xyliandra-fics.tumblr.com/).


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